


Backstitching

by whiteraven1606



Series: Rebuilt in Patchwork [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anxiety, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Iron Man 3 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-13 02:18:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteraven1606/pseuds/whiteraven1606
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony visits Harley with the Avengers in tow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backstitching

****

Harley had figured that he'd never see Tony again after all the stuff showed up in the garage with the note from the Mechanic. Coming back from school to a living room full of Avengers and his mom trying to work out why Iron Man was insisting that Harley met _Doctor Bruce Banner_ , nearly made Harley hyperventilate from excitement.

As he tried to calm his breathing, Harley wondered if this was how it felt for Tony when he'd panicked and started gasping for air.

"Hey! The kid that help save the world!" Tony wrapped him up in a one arm hug and Harley stared up at him for a moment before ducking out from under his arm to stand in front of Doctor Banner.

"Wow. You figured out how protons react to gamma radiation."

Tony cupped his shoulders and Harley tipped his head to catch sight of Tony's happy smirk, no signs of panic. Harley had been reading up.

"See? Not everyone cares about..."

"Tony." Doctor Banner smiled tightly down at him. "Did he tell you to say that?"

Harley frowned and shook his head. "No." He ran and gave his mom a hug as she gathered up her purse. "We'll be fine, Mom. I'm sure Captain America won't let anyone burn down the house."

She rolled her eyes and hugged him tightly. "Have fun. Be careful. I'll be back as soon as my shift is over."

He patted her back until she finally pulled away. "I promise we'll all be fine. I won't even accidentally try to make anyone panic."

Hawkeye snorted from his place against the doorjamb to the kitchen. "I'm liking you more and more, kid."

Harley waved until the door closed behind his mom. The instant it was closed he whirled and bounced over to Tony. "Why are you here? I thought you weren't going to ever come back."

Tony let him lean against his leg, which Harley tried not to do for too long. He didn't want to upset Tony.

"I figured you deserved some not beaten to a pulp super hero visitors."

Harley smiled at them all. "Awesome." He turned his face up to look at Tony. "I didn't mind having you around. Even beaten to a pulp."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Let's see what you've done with the many, many gifts your friend the Mechanic left you."

Harley could feel Tony's arm trembling, so he started to babble as he moved past Black Widow to get to the hallway that lead to the back door. He kept one eye on Tony as he talked to he could try to steer himself away from anything that would set off Tony's anxiety.

****

Bruce watched Harley watching Tony. It was cute how much like Tony, Harley could act. The constant stream of babble and the clearly mental wrenching Harley did when he'd stop mid-sentence to change the topic when he hit something he clearly thought would bother Tony.

It was a lot like watching Tony trying to tiptoe his way through a conversation with Steve when Tony was in the mood to be careful with Steve's feelings.

Bruce smiled and nodded at everything the little boy showed them. Harley had a half-built robot on his table and everything in the garage was clearly stamped with Tony's well-meaning interfering brand of help.

Tony settled on the couch and kept giving the kid crap about this or that. Bruce could see where Tony was using his bluntness to not only show the kid where he could improve, but also where he was doing very well.

Bruce shook his head at Steve once when Tony's bluntness came across as mean. Harley didn't even flinch, arguing back to try to get his point across. Steve raised his eyebrows as Harley grabbed him to pull him over to help hold up something for Tony to get a better look at on Harley's robot.

Tony poked the robot's parts with a fingertip. "Tell you what, why don't we go outside and look at the someone."

Harley frowned, but followed along as they went back outside to the big bus Tony had piled them all into for this visit.

Bruce shouldered between Harley and Tony to follow the boy up into the bus. Harley stared around himself and then caught sight of Dum-E in the back.

"Oh, wow." Harley hurried back to the doorway of the room Dum-E and Butterfingers were sitting in. "Awesome."

Tony crowded up against Bruce's side to see past him. "The one on the left is Dummy and Butterfingers is the other one. Dummy is older. Say hi, Dummy."

Dum-E shifted his pincher down to Harley's level and held it out towards him. Harley grabbed the pincher and Dum-E slowly shook it up and down twice before pulling back and clacking his pincher.

"Cool." Harley slipped around the side of them to look at them from the back. "Why'd you bring them with you? Where they in your house when it fell into the ocean?" Harley stopped and frowned. "Sorry."

Tony waved it away. "Yes, they were. Not having as many problems right now, kid. Steve thinks we should go to New Mexico and train."

Bruce bit his lip and watched Harley try to work through that.

"Why take the robots? They can't fight, right?" Harley eyed Butterfinger. "Wait, if they were in your house, how are they here now? Did you pull them from the ocean?"

Tony gasped at Bruce's back when Harley said ocean. Bruce reached back and touched Tony's side as he watched Harley bite his own lip.

"Tony salvaged and rebuilt them." Bruce patted Tony's side as he drew a deep breath. "We're taking them along because Dummy is currently worried about Tony's health and keeps following him even in places Dummy isn't supposed to go."

Tony tapped his chest. "He thinks I still need a battery."

Harley frowned. "You were really protective of your chest when you where here last time." He touched Butterfingers' housing. "I suppose I should thank you for everything you got me."

Tony made a rude noise. "Oh, please. You don't have to thank me for shit."

Bruce elbowed Tony softly.

"Well, you should totally tell your mother that you thanked me." Tony grinned. "You want some ice cream? I sent my kids with Agent. You should met Agent too."

Harley came back around the robots and frowned up at Bruce. "I thought he didn't have any kids."

"He just found out." Bruce herded Harley ahead of him and Harley shoved on Tony to get him moving. "I figured you'd ask questions about the Hulk."

Harley shrugged as he waited for Tony to go down the bus' stairs. "I make his anxiety worse just by talking. I don't want to make you angry."

"Angrier. He's always angry." Tony smiled wide as Bruce glared at him.

Harley eyed Bruce for a moment before bounding down the stairs. "He doesn't look angry."

Bruce sighed and followed them.

****

Tony smiled as Harley and his two kids shrieked, laughing, as they chased each other around Harley's backyard.

Steve leaned against the wall next to Tony. "You did good here, Tony."

Tony blinked and frowned at him. "What have you been smoking?" He shook his head. "No, no, never mind. You really think so?"

Steve nodded. "I do." He patted Tony's shoulder. "Even if you hadn't had me help you with Harley's workshop, I would still think so."

Tony grinned. "You didn't think so when we were putting in his new computer."

"I thought you were bribing him. You didn't say you were thanking him."

"What was I supposed to say?" Tony tilted his head. "Wait, wait. If I'd just told you that I was thanking him you wouldn't have glared at me?"

Steve shrugged. "Probably not as much." Steve frowned. "Tony, why didn't you just say? You seemed gleeful that I was mad at you."

With a single shoulder shrug, Tony turned to watch the kids race past. "I never live up to anyone's standards, so why shouldn't I get at least some happiness out of people's reactions?"

Steve frowned and watched Tony as he let the kids climb up him like he was a tree.

****

Bruce waved goodbye to Harley one last time before climbing into the bus. He sat down next to Steve and looked him over. "You alright?"

Steve shrugged, propped his hand on his chin and stared out the window as the bus eased down the street. "Yeah."

"You sure?"

Steve sighed. "Tony...Do you know if he has ever really had a proper friend?"

Bruce glanced towards the back where Tony was reassuring the kids that the robots were still secured to the floor. "He counts Pepper and Rhodes as friends, I think."

"Sure." Steve frowned. "He told me that he was expecting me to be mad at him about giving Harley all the things in his garage."

"Steve...Tony's outer image, the one you've seen most of the time, it isn't _him_. Not exactly. Tony hides his reactions in big flashy gestures. He thinks everyone is against him, which given his history probably isn't too far off."

"I thought...He's been nice to me."

Bruce held up his hand, his fingers only a little ways apart from his thumb. "In short periods, right? Then he is an asshole again?"

"Seems it. Yeah."

Bruce nodded. "You know what stress testing is?"

Steve looked at him.

"Yeah. That's what I think he's doing at least. Testing to find your limits. To find how far he can go so he'll know when you'll leave him. When you'll quit being his friend."

"That's stu..." Steve blinked and bit his lip. "How do we convince him that we won't quit being his friend?"

Bruce shrugged. "I'm still working on that one. For me, I listen to him. For you...try asking him for more help with modern stuff."

Steve huffed. "I get most things. Slang and just the general shift in culture trips me up."

"I know. Pretend you are worse off than you are about tech. Give him an opening to help you so you have a reason to be nicer to him." Bruce clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Just don't try being nicer with no excuse. You'll spook him."

Steve nodded and turned to watch the world slip past their window.

****


End file.
